


Glory and Gore

by orphan_account



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Dust Bowl, Gen, No pairings just good-natured killing, Non-Graphic Violence, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 01:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3831550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Scout's first day fighting for BLU and he is definitely, absolutely not going to fuck it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glory and Gore

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short piece to get me back into the habit of actually writing, very loosely based on a 'wrong person waved back' prompt.  
> Title from the Lorde song because I can't think up one myself (I AM A SHAM).  
> I should not write and edit things late at night, but I've done it again and I'm very sorry if this is a wreck.

In the distance a battle cry echoed across the arena, reverberating off the yellowed cliffs. Scout snapped to attention. The enemy was advancing and they had little time left before the fighting started.

He shifted anxiously as the countdown reached the final minute, quickly bouncing on his toes and readjusting his grip on his bat every few seconds. He needed to make a good start, with this being his first battle. _‘Get out the door, shoot past the other team, grab the intel, bash a few skulls in on the return trip, bring home the goods. Easy.’_ He thought to himself. After all, he was the Scout, and he’d been hand-picked for the job.

He squinted through the gates, scanning the arena for any early signs of traps. No doubt the RED Engineer would be hurrying to set up a sentry, just like how Scout had been briefed. Strategy played a bigger part in these fights than he would’ve thought, and after hearing about the tactics both teams were happy enough to employ, the idea of respawn was a miracle (though Scout still had niggling doubts about being turned into a mindless zombie, even after he’d been sent through the system).

“Oi, laddie!” Scout jumped a mile as Demo tapped gently on his shoulder, “D’yeh think y’can stop fidgeting for a sec? Yeh look like a wee tapdancer jumping around like that.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Scout gave a laugh, cringing at how his nerves mangled into more of a warbled, cracking mess, “No problem, pal.”

“Ze boy is scared?” Spy asked, tapping his cigarette and watching Scout carefully from across the spawn room (though it really didn’t earn the title of ‘room’, seeing as it was set up in a small mine tunnel).

“ _What?_ No!” Scout could feel everyone’s eyes settle on him at the outburst, “I ain’t scared! Just eager to bash some heads in, is all.”

Spy gave him a sly smile, “Good luck with the sentries.” Scout couldn’t help but quickly glance out through the gates again to try and spot them. Being at the middle gate meant that while he could probably see more of the field, the walls of rock on either side of his exit put the enemy team high enough that Scout couldn't spot them.

“Ach, he’ll be fine!” Demo boomed, cheerfully smacking him across the back with enough force to send him stumbling, “He’s fast as a rabbit! And yeh can’t kill what you can’t hit.” Demo grinned and Scout straightened, rubbing at the back of his neck with a small smile. Demo was right, as long as he could dodge, he’d be fine. Hopefully.

Scout hadn’t been paying attention to the RED’s and it seemed like they’d suddenly popped out of nowhere. Granted, teleporters had a similar effect, but the clang of metal on metal could still be heard, so he figured the RED Engie was still setting them up. He moved up the walkway, closer to the gates, switching out the bat for his scattergun. A faint beeping could now be heard around the canyon. At least one sentry was waiting out there in the dust and heat, and Scout took a deep breath as the countdown hit ten. 

The RED Sniper moved into Scout’s view, stepping closer to the edge near Scout’s right. He tilted his head down, as if analysing the BLU’s through the gates. Scout fidgeted, unsure if the Sniper was watching him behind his sunglasses or simply facing his direction. The sniper rifle hung loosely by the man’s side, cradled in his right arm while he raised his left in a friendly wave.

“G’day!” Sniper hollered, grinning. Scout stared back in confusion - _was the enemy Sniper really waving at him?_ - before he decided to return the courtesy (like his ma taught him) and waved back, giving a small smile in return. He could only just see a hint of a smirk on the Sniper's face before the man was readying his gun and moving just out of Scout’s line of sight again.

_ 3… _

_ 2… _

_ 1… _

The gates flung open and Scout shifted his weight forward, sprinting out of the spawn room. He got one foot out onto the dusty earth before he heard a loud crack and his world went black.

_ Boom, headshot. _

Scout respawned a few seconds later with a pained groan, bringing one hand up to his aching head and resting the other on his nauseous stomach. At one end of the spawn room was a large screen providing a live tally of who was killing whom, and on it appeared a little notification (complete with headshot icon) that Scout’s death had been the first of the match, within the _first second_ of the battle. He swore he could hear the Sniper laughing at him outside.

_Fuck. It was going to be a long day._  
 


End file.
